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My overall testosterone is in the low range of normal, but free testosterone is belwo normal. My Doc wants me to start using a topical ointment once a day (Testim 1%)Weight is the same as it has always been for at least 10 years (converted in 2001 )...body actually a little better than in past.

Has anyone used this topical testosterone ?Side effects ?I have no desire to be a "gymbot" Thanks

I've used both. The testim gave me a rash but the stuff gets the woman and gay guys attention, I kid you not! The androgel will give you the same boost as testim, sort of and is adequate for the job, but you won't get comments and attention from the woman or guys like using testim will. After some time, about two years, I found I didn't need either of them.

Good luck,

BB

Logged

Damn the Torpedoes! Full speed ahead! Adm. D. Farragut.

Started Atripla 8/18/06 and if I eat the right food when I take my meds, I get to go on a-trip-la.

In a way the andrgel contributed to me getting hiv.Mytestosterone level was low when my doc measured it and so he put me on it.Just rub it onto your shoulders or abdomin.It made this forty something bod feel like eighteen again.Unreal how horny it made me!So I had lots of sex and unsafe at that.Now im here.I cant say it gave me more energy but it certainly helped my sex life unfortunatly. I stopped taking it when I was diagnosed as I have no need for it now,and i was worried about the cancer risk,I mean prostate risk.My doc also warned of this possibility.Actually sex can cut your life short.I was reading a study where people who are castrated live about 10 years longer than normal people.So maybe those nike,ufo believers from california that commited suicide about 10 years ago were onto something.

The advantage of the gel is that you receive a more constant level of test, but use whatever works for you. I had the same results that you had, but I found that my normal level was no where near what I needed, given the toll of the disease, side effects and the meds. I do a shot a week and I don't notice any changes, per se, other than I have more energy and I seem to be excessively horny.

The real point of this is for you to determine what level of testosterone you need for feel the best. I'd start with the gel and then you can really control the dose and see if you like the results.

Manhattanman, I went for three or four months with severe up and down fatigue. My numbers were too healthy for it to be any sort of infection and I had no other symptoms. Turns out my testosterone was low. I take the smallest dose of Androgel and it seems to work well. It also worked immediately. After a few months I'm still tired some of the time and I suspect that I need a higher dose, but it will be good for you.

My best friend uses Androgel. He had testicular cancer last year and now his body does not produce testosterone at all. He noticed a huge difference and has not had any rashes or allergic reaction. He does not report that he is horny as an 18-year-old. His doc measures his testosterone level every six months to make sure he is not using too much and therefore risking things like prostate cancer.

Testim is supposed to have a better "delivery system" than AndroGel; that's not clinically proven though. Are you going to use one tube (5 mg) or two (10 mg)? Not likely that you'll become a gymbot with either of these doses. The muscle boys use injectable testosterone stacked with other anabolics (Deca etc) at MUCH higher doses. Here's yet another question I asked at The Body:

Her finely-touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.

Her finely-touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.

I think it is important to find out why your testosterone is low. Obviously with some meds the effects are bigger than with others. The problem with using testosterone long time is that your body registers the level of testosterone and reduces your own testosterone production.

When I had low testosterone I was on Crixivan, a protease inhibitor. When I went to nukes again, the testosterone went up. Any other people with similar experiences?